4A track: Federal Way sweeps boys and girls team title again

She still had two races to go on the final day of Star Track XXXII, but circumstances had conspired against the Federal Way senior one more time.

No, these circumstances didn’t keep her from competing at state as situations had the previous three years. But an illness that came on after a strong day of preliminaries on Friday kept her from feeling strong enough to run in the 800 relay won by her teammates early on Saturday.

That same illness, coupled with a slight headwind, kept her from challenging the state meet record in the 100 meters, though she still won that race easily in 11.96 seconds.

And her performancesl helped the Eagles win back-to-back boys and girls team championships, a double that had happened only once before in 4A/3A/2A history.

“I didn’t want to get out of bed this morning,” said Cunliffe, who quickly had to get ready for the 400 relay. “My stomach. My head. My throat. My nose is still clogged right now.”

The Federal Way girls won the title, 72-48 over runner-up Camas. Meanwhile, the Federal Way boys also repeated as team champions, 73-45 over second-place Eastmont.

The Eagles became only the second big-classification school ever to win both boys and girls titles back-to-back. Garfield did it in 1984 and 1985.

“Not everybody puts the work in when they have the talent,” Cunliffe said. “We are very talented and we kept working.”

Federal Way’s girls ran 1:40.75 in the day’s first event, the 800 relay, falling short of Garfield’s 4A and overall state-meet mark of 1:39.12 set in 1983. Later, the Eagles ran a 46.90 in the 400 relay, nipping the 1983 Bulldogs’ record of 47.05.

“This was the one,” Federal Way senior Mariyah Vongsaveng said. “There was so much adrenaline. The record is just a cherry on top.”

Cunliffe concluded her state meet with a gutty 24.66 in the 200 meters, running on a strained right quad suffered during her 100-meter victory early on.

“I was not going to run it, but (teammates Keenan Curran and Karis Cameron) were like, ‘This is your last race,’ ” Cunliffe said. “Good point. I just did the best I could with the situation I’m in. I am so happy to be here, to say I got three state titles and a state record.”

Notes

• Camas junior Alexa Efraimson didn’t set another national record, but she obliterated the state 800-meter mark in 2:04.10. She set the old record a year ago of 2:08.17.

• Wenatchee’s Isaiah Brandt-Sims won the 100 and 200 races for the fourth consecutive year.

• Bellarmine senior Hannah Derby became a four-time winner in the girls 400 with a winning time of 55.69.